Food processing equipment, such as that found in dairies, tanks, pumps, valves and fluid piping, typically includes tanks, pumps, valves, and fluid piping. This food processing equipment often needs to be cleaned between each lot of product processed through the equipment. However, the tanks, pumps, valves, and piping can be difficult to clean because the various components may be difficult to access and disassemble for cleaning Because of these cleaning difficulties, many food processing plants now use clean-in-place systems in which the tanks, pumps, valves, and piping of the food processing equipment remain physically assembled, and various cleaning, disinfecting, and rinsing solutions are circulated by the clean-in-place system through the food processing equipment to affect the cleaning process.
An example clean-in-place cleaning cycle normally begins with a pre-rinse cycle wherein water is pumped through the food processing equipment for the purpose of removing loose soil in the system. Typically, an alkaline wash would then be recirculated through the food processing equipment. This alkaline wash would chemically react with the soils of the food processing equipment to further remove soil. A third step would again rinse the food processing equipment with water, prior to a fourth step wherein an acid rinse would be circulated through the batch processing system. The acid rinse would neutralize and remove residual alkaline cleaner and remove any mineral deposits left by the water. Finally, a post-rinse cycle would be performed, typically using water and/or a sanitizing rinse. Such clean-in-place systems (and associated cleaning compositions) are known in the art, and examples can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,423,675; 6,391,122; 6,161,558; 6,136,362; 6,089,242; 6,071,356; 5,888,311; 5,533,552; 5,427,126; 5,405,452; 5,348,058; 5,282,889; 5,064,561; 5,047,164; 4,836,420; and 2,897,829.
Clean-in-place processes can vary widely in complexity. Some clean-in-place processes include various pieces of equipment, sometimes called clean-in-place objects, operating in conjunction and/or in succession. Data regarding clean-in-place processes and object operation is often stored as an unorganized mass of data, and is often incomprehensible to those without extensive experience in the clean-in-place industry. As a result, a typical user of a system on which clean-in-place processes are performed is unable to analyze clean-in-place process data to notice areas of potential improvement or non-ideal operation in the clean-in-place process. Generally, the user does not have more than a very basic understanding of how operation of a system changes from process to process or how actions taken by the user can affect the system operation.